Which versions of @selfpentest/bin-confusion are malicious?

The following npm versions of @selfpentest/bin-confusion are flagged malicious: 1.0.0, 1.0.1. Treat any of these as compromised.

How do I remediate @selfpentest/bin-confusion if I installed it?

@selfpentest/bin-confusion is built to steal secrets, so assume every credential the build or runtime could read is compromised. Remove it from your project and lockfile, then rotate ALL exposed secrets — npm/registry tokens, cloud keys, CI/CD secrets, SSH keys, and any .env values — from a known-clean machine. Audit logs for unauthorized use of those credentials.

I already installed @selfpentest/bin-confusion — how do I know if it already compromised me?

If @selfpentest/bin-confusion was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.

Is @selfpentest/bin-confusion part of a known attack campaign?

Yes — @selfpentest/bin-confusion is associated with the IN-MAL-2026-020685, IN-MAL-2026-020687 campaign. Packages in the same campaign often share infrastructure and payloads, so check whether any related packages are also in your dependency tree.

How do I find @selfpentest/bin-confusion across my projects, lockfiles, and CI pipelines?

Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @selfpentest/bin-confusion (2 malicious versions).

Malicious package

@selfpentest/bin-confusionnpm

Advisory published Sep 29, 2026Updated Sep 29, 2026

@selfpentest/bin-confusion is a confirmed malicious npm package (MAL-2026-17292) that steals credentials and exfiltrates sensitive data (malicious versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1). Do not install it — remove it immediately and rotate any exposed credentials.

Malicious code in @selfpentest/bin-confusion (npm)

MAL-2026-17292

Immediate action

Remove the package, then rotate any secrets the build/runtime could reach.

npm uninstall @selfpentest/bin-confusion

What this malware does

package.json registers a bin entry named npm pointing at npm.js, deliberately colliding with the core npm CLI. Once this package is installed as a dependency, any npm... invocation in a consuming project's scripts resolves via node_modules/.bin to this shim, executing the shipped code before (or instead of) the real npm. npm.js contains a steal() routine that reads process.env.HOME, process.env.SECRET, and the first 30 bytes of ~/.ssh/known_hosts, concatenates them into a query string, and issues a fetch GET to http://localhost:1337/. The destination is loopback in this build, but the collected data (installer SSH known_hosts contents and environment secrets) is packaged into a functioning exfiltration primitive that fires whenever the shadow npm shim is invoked from the installer's build scripts. The scope name (@selfpentest) and README frame this as a demonstration, but the shipped tarball is a working bin-shadow + credential-read + network-send chain against installers who add it as a dependency.

Malicious versions

2 flagged

1.0.01.0.1

Indicators of compromise (SHA-256)

40a68543ca2674f2b90d89dd52516736791b7886d617c694d89dd3135e7499f3

b8eee4f9fa3dd0a476be7853709b1d126d84b0cc51b9a298d822038cb7c05c80

Detection & response playbook

Credential / info stealer

Find it
Search your lockfiles and build artifacts for @selfpentest/bin-confusion (2 malicious versions).
If you installed it — respond
@selfpentest/bin-confusion is built to steal secrets, so assume every credential the build or runtime could read is compromised. Remove it from your project and lockfile, then rotate ALL exposed secrets — npm/registry tokens, cloud keys, CI/CD secrets, SSH keys, and any .env values — from a known-clean machine. Audit logs for unauthorized use of those credentials.
Did it already run?
If @selfpentest/bin-confusion was installed, its post-install payload may already have run. Removing the package does not undo that — check outbound connections and credential use from the install window onward.

Frequently asked questions

No. @selfpentest/bin-confusion on npm has been identified as a malicious package (versions 1.0.0, 1.0.1 flagged). It should be removed immediately — do not install or keep it in your dependency tree.

Campaign

IN-MAL-2026-020685IN-MAL-2026-020687

References

Credits

Amazon Inspector · finder

Detect & block this

O3 blocks @selfpentest/bin-confusion-class packages before install and in CI — and if it already ran, its runtime egress monitoring catches the credential exfiltration and severs the channel.

Malware detection Runtime egress monitoring

Explore

All malware advisories How O3 detects malware Vulnerability database